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Unit 2: Theme Based Vocabulary Building





          the end of the base (active activate). Prefixes usually do not change the class of the base word, but   Notes
          suffi xes usually do change the class of the word.
          The most common prefixes used to form new verbs in academic English are: re-, dis-, over-,


          un-, mis-, out-. The most common suffixes are: -ise, -en, -ate, -(i)fy. By far the most common affi x
          in academic English is -ise.
          2.1.2 Verbs


          Example: prefix + verb verb
            Prefi x          Meaning                           Examples
            re-   again or back              restructure, revisit, reappear, rebuild, refi nance
            dis-  reverses the meaning of the verb  disappear, disallow, disarm, disconnect, discontinue
            over-  too much                  overbook, oversleep, overwork
            un-   reverses the meaning of the verb  unbend, uncouple, unfasten
            mis-  badly or wrongly           mislead, misinform, misidentify
            out-  more or better than others  outperform, outbid
            be-   make or cause              befriend, belittle
            co-   together                   co-exist, co-operate, co-own
            de-   do the opposite of         devalue, deselect
            fore-  earlier, before           foreclose, foresee
            inter-  between                  interact, intermix, interface
            pre-  before                     pre-expose, prejudge, pretest
            sub-  under/below                subcontract, subdivide
            trans-  across, over             transform, transcribe, transplant
            under-  not enough               underfund, undersell, undervalue, underdevelop


          Example: Suffix used to form verbs with the meaning “cause to be”.
              Suffi x                               Example
           -ise        stabilise, characterise, symbolise, visualise, specialise
           -ate        differentiate, liquidate, pollinate, duplicate, fabricate
           -fy         classify, exemplify, simplify, justify
           -en         awaken, fasten, shorten, moisten

          2.1.3 Nouns

          The most common prefixes used to form new nouns in academic English are: co- and sub-. The

          most common suffixes are: -tion, -ity, -er, -ness, -ism, -ment, -ant, -ship, -age, -ery. By far the most


          common noun affix in academic English is -tion.
          Example: prefix + noun  noun

             Prefi x      Meaning                          Examples
           anti-    against           anticlimax, antidote, antithesis
           auto-    Self              autobiography, automobile
           bi-      Two               bilingualism, biculturalism, bi-metalism
           co-      joint             co-founder, co-owner, co-descendant
           counter-  against          counter-argument, counter-example, counter-proposal
                                                                                  Contd....




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